Pleasanton blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m today at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Interfaith Community Blood Drive aims to collect more than 1,700 blood donations this month

A Pleasanton stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will join with more than 25 other Bay Area faith organizations today in an interfaith community blood drive to collect much-needed blood donations in what is the largest single blood collection effort for the Northern California Blood Services Region.

The Pleasanton drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the c, which is located at 6100 Paseo Santa Cruz.

The blood collection effort is comprised of nearly four-dozen individual drivesto collect more than 1,700 blood donations this month, which is traditionally a time of year when the supply of donated blood struggles to meet the demand, according to the Red Cross.

"The drive has cemented its integral role in supporting the local blood supply during the summer months when the number of blood donations tends to drop," said Neil Tosuntikool, donor recruitment director of the Red Cross Northern California Blood Services Region.

"Giving blood at one of the Interfaith Community Blood Drives locations will help ensure a sufficient supply of blood is available this summer," he added.

The annual interfaith effort, now in its sixth year, has collected more than 11,000 pints of blood since its inception.